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Original poster

Do you use your library?

143 replies

CuriousMama · 22/07/2012 21:24

I use mine all the time and I've just finished reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and have now ordered (online from my library) The Passage, by Justin Cronin and Me before you by Jojo Moyes.

I'm always there but am amazed how underused they are? Ours is only small and I'll be gutted if it closes.

OP posts:
fuzzpig · 23/07/2012 08:14

I've been working for my local library for a year now. I actually got in on an apprenticeship scheme but I'm now full time and permanent. Thankfully our council is not closing any for now, they are cutting costs in other ways - our media budget has been slashed so we are having a donations drive. My library is one of the biggest in the county and has had self service machines since it opened a few years ago, and the rest (over 30 ranging from massive to tiny) are gradually having them installed. That does mean less staff hours :( (although it's not as much of a reduction as I'd have thought).

Our library is pretty well used - we are always in the top 3 for issues - but I think if we didn't charge for internet we'd be totally screwed.

marshmallowpies · 23/07/2012 08:16

MrsHoarder I breastfeed at the library too - it's such a calm environment that DD always seems to feed very well there, and my peaceful weekly BF session after rhyme time has become one of the things I most look forward to in the week!

DillyTante · 23/07/2012 08:16

Oh god all the time. In fact last time I was there 4 people asked me for help so I must look very at home there. The kids love it and the staff are lovely (helps that dh used to work there), it's like a 2nd home and they staff make me a cuppa and feed the kids biscuits. You pay to order books at the counter but free if you order them yourself, plus you can request they buy books if they don't have them.

The library catalogue is always my 1st port of call before buying a new book.

I've also been running crochet classes at the library in the evening. I have a set of keys and when I go in early and am on my own out if hours I get stupidly excited!

Use 'em or lose 'em! Or here in Glos - lose 'em anyway! Ours is staying open by the skin of its teeth, supported by the parish council, but it could pull the funding any time :(

Grumpla · 23/07/2012 08:23

I love my local library. Small town so we walk there. They have a really good kids section and crucially really delightful staff! Extremely helpful and adept at calming me toddlers down when wrestling with baby, raincovers etc.

I am terrible at remembering to take books back with me though! Still, I figure that as the books are free I don't begrudge them a few quid a month in fines. I'd happily donate that amount to keep it open after all!

I wish I had more time to go on my own, when my children are a bit older maybe...

FlatCapAndAWhippet · 23/07/2012 08:23

Us too, we have a weekly visit to the library. A lovely atmosphere and much appreciated by all.

Its great!

iknowwho · 23/07/2012 08:30

joanofarch...

No still not worth looking into.

Why would I drive into a town pay £4.20 for parking to get a free e book when I can down load many for free anyway?

AnneOfCleavers · 23/07/2012 08:35

Yes. I shall be very sad to move away from the library I currently use as it is wonderfully stocked and bursting with things I want to read. I just cannot praise it enough!

I'm moving back to my home town and unless their library has changed in the year I've been away, I probably won't use it. It's massive but I can never find a single book I want - that is saying something as I carry around a little notebook with books I want to read. If you enquire at the desk about a book, they'll say they have it but can't say where it is in the library (my sister who used to work there said that quite a few staff members just put the books back in any old place). One assistant told me to just buy a book I was looking for instead of asking her to search if they have it in the library.

BabeRuthless · 23/07/2012 09:01

I really like our local library. You can reserve online for free & that's where I do most of my browsing. I've got 5 books out at the moment & it's saved me a fortune. I'm a heavy kindle user but it's nice to have a paperback in your hands too.

To all those who get ebooks from their a library, a couple of questions. What ereaders do you use? Do you download the book onto your pc/mac then transfer it over to your reader? What's the selection like? Our local library is starting with ebooks later in the year & I was wondering whether it was worth getting a cheap kobo for that purpose.

DontEatTheVolesKids · 23/07/2012 09:22

Yeah, I use it lots. Am not surprised by positive response here. MN is a realm of bookworms, I reckon.

EllieQ · 23/07/2012 09:36

Yes - I've had a ban on buying books for the last two years, so use my library a lot! I've also joined the book club there, so I'm reading books I wouldn't normally read.

I'm lucky as I work in the city centre near the main branch, so I can go in at lunch or after work.

None of our libraries have closed - in fact they've refurbished the main branch and are doing improvements to smaller branches. The library doesn't charge to reserve books, and you can borrow e-books too.

Teladi · 23/07/2012 09:51

DD (11mo) and I go almost every week on one of the weekdays I don't work. Unfortunately DD likes to save up her weekly allowance of yelling and do it all in there for some reason so it's usually quite a brief trip. Our local branch is small and doesn't tend to have the books I like in stock, so I try and remember ones I want to request. I have fond memories of visiting the library from when I was little, I'm still a book fiend, and I hope DD enjoys it too.

Fedupnagging · 23/07/2012 09:58

Am very sad to read about the librarians attitude in Annofcleavers local library. IMO libraries are a wonderful resource for everyone but especially those who cannot afford to buy books, newspapers etc or have pc 's at home.

Local councils will only keep funding libraries if they are used and poor service will invariably mean people will not bother going therefore good reason for the funding to stop.

About 10 yrs ago, our local library was under threat of closure. Customers were encouraged to use it as much as possible to prevent this by showing it was a much needed resource. We would go regularly and take out the maximum amount of books allowed - that's 30 books for us! It worked though and the library is still open.

The only downside was rounding up 30 books every 2weeks!

muddymooncupsatdawn · 23/07/2012 10:03

DD uses the library most weeks. ( she's off there later for a 2 hour craft/reading challenge).
I always take my kindle and sit in a corner reading drinking hot choc.
If there's a book that costs the earth on Kindle, then i will order it from the library instead.
My library has e-books to borrow, but i haven't found out how to do it yet.
(I'm not sure if i can download to a kindle or just ipad/laptop).
I love the library, have been using it for 40 years.

kateemo · 23/07/2012 10:13

Yes! The kids' corner is a fun place for us to be and DDs get used to spending time surrounded by books. It's also an excellent rainy or gloomy day destination. It was one of my best memories from childhood that I can share with my girls.

muddymooncupsatdawn · 23/07/2012 10:14

..and just to say DD got her first library card at 2 weeks old. Smile

mollymole · 23/07/2012 10:19

Use it weekly, it is now a community library and I volunteer there once a week as well. We were closed down, even though statistics prooved we were one of most used ones in the council district. The ironic thing is that they closed us because the building is in a town where property value are sky high
and they thought they would make a packet selling it, yet with all their highly paid 'legal advisors' not one of them was able to discover the covenent on the
land that restricted use to a 'written word, free at point of service, facility' !!

Original poster
CuriousMama · 23/07/2012 13:11

It's great to hear so many use them Smile

Can't wait for my next books to come in!

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betterwhenthesunshines · 23/07/2012 17:49

Yes - for the DCs. Although we went this morning and it took a long time to find anything much that DS (10) wanted to get, that wasn't silly Nerds books. Lots of the 'better' books that he really should be reading they had in very old fashioned formats with uninspiring covers and very densely packed text. It's a shame as he can read a book in a day so we need a lot to get through the holidays. :) I think for children especially the cover is a lot of what makes a book initially appealing and unfortunately Waterstones feels much more of a treasure trove of temptation than our library.

I have found it was great for baby and young children story books but often doesn't have the particular books you are looking for. I know you can order them, but DCs like to see the book first and read the blurb before they want to read it. It was also very difficult in the 'learning to read' stage because the younger readers are sorted alphabetically rather than by levels which was too daunting to sort through for a younger child. It was done for ease of librarians rather than ease of users IYSWIM.

I remember our library as a child had the full set of TinTin and Asterix for example which was great because you really don't need to buy these, although they should be a right of passage!

I've stopped getting fiction for myself from the library as I don't like carting the hardbacks around, or the plastic covers. I tend to buy and re-gift to our local excellent Oxfam bookshop as I like to have a whole stack of books waiting by by bed so I can pick whatever I feel like next rather than have to read it in the next 3 weeks.

LeeCoakley · 23/07/2012 17:58

Absolutely. Ours is in the middle of the village and easy to pop into. We used it constantly when the dds were small and I use it myself all the time. I love having a new stack of books by my bed every few weeks. Also love being able to renew online as well! Less fines that way. It's opposite the primary school and it's lovely to see so many children in there after school.

gamerwidow · 23/07/2012 18:51

BabeRuthless I use the ebooks at my local library.
I have a Sony Reader but anything other than Kindle would work as well.
You log in to the library website and download the book to your laptop then transfer it to the Sony Reader. The book then automatically locks when the lending time expires.
My local library allows you to use the collections across 3 boroughs but the selection is fairly limited, only 600 or so fiction books. On the plus side I have read a lot of good books I might not have previously considered.

Original poster
CuriousMama · 23/07/2012 18:56

Betterwhenthesunshines have you ordered from the online catalogue before?

OP posts:
patosullivan · 23/07/2012 19:37

I use my local library a lot, and have got 11 month old DS a library ticket, so he gets a variety of exciting board books Smile

We have to drive, but the village it's in has free parking. And it's easy to order books - only 35p for us.

Original poster
CuriousMama · 23/07/2012 20:23

That's good pato that you're starting your ds early with books Smile

35p for us too.

OP posts:
fivegomadindorset · 23/07/2012 20:24

Ordering books is free for us, a donation can be made when you pick them up.

Original poster
CuriousMama · 23/07/2012 20:26

It's free in my old town too. I wonder if it's just villages that charge? I'm in a village now.

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